Ready to go higher?

Most members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) will by now be familiar with the phrase, ‘Come Up Higher’ as it was the theme of the recently concluded March Special Holy Ghost Congress held from 6th to 8th March 2008. Our General Overseer (G.O), Pastor E.A Adeboye anchored the ministration on Friday 7th on the scripture in Revelation 4: 1-“After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” The Amplified Bible translates this last sentence as “…Come up here, and I will show you what must take place in the future”. As Daddy G.O explained, God is setting an open door before us; he is promising to open the heavens before us; he is promising to open every door that had been previously closed against us; to set us free from every prison, poverty, bondage or limitation; he is releasing showers of blessings, because when the heavens open to a man, blessings, favour, promotion, honour, glory and restoration are what follow; and when he opens that means we can walk into our breakthrough as no man or power can close a door that the Lord himself has opened.

As I meditated further on this matter however, one thing occurred to me-this statement ‘Come up Higher’ was an invitation, and not a command. God himself is inviting us to come up to a higher level, so we can see and take hold of the marvellous things he has in store for us. But he will not force us higher, except we accept the invitation. Notice that he didn’t say, “Go up Higher” which might be interpreted as an instruction or command. Of course even if it was an instruction, God usually leaves us free to choose to obey or not, and receive the consequences of obedience or disobedience of his instruction. But in this case, it is an invitation, not an instruction. Each of us must decide whether we want to accept the invitation. In making this decision, we will examine the nature of the invitation. First who is this God who is asking us to ascend higher? Gen 14:18 calls him the ‘most high God’. Gen 14:22 calls him the ‘possessor of heaven and earth’. He is the one who told Abraham, “I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Gen 15:1). He is ‘the Almighty’ (Gen 17:1); “our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46: 1); he is “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (Rev 1: 8) A wise man will carefully consider any invitation that comes from such a source!

If we receive an invitation from a President, Governor, Minister or Commissioner, Ambassador or any other powerful human authority, we would usually hasten to accept in the expectation that we can benefit in one way or the other from these princes and kings. How much more the person who created all Kings and Princes? Remember Psalm 146: 3-“Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help”; Doesn’t it make even more sense to accept the invitation of the Lord who can turn the mind of the King in your favour or against you. According to Proverbs 21:1, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will”. He is the only one who can truly promote and establish a man-“For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.” (Psalm 75:6-7). He is the only source of true security. Psalm 91:1-3 which we all know declares boldly that, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.” No matter what the devil and his agents do, surely I will never depart from under the shadow of this awesome God. What about you?

Another question a reasonable person would consider in deciding on this invitation is, what has happened to those who have accepted previous invitations from the same person? What for instance happened to Simon called Peter who accepted an invitation from Jesus Christ who is son of God, and his brother Andrew, and indeed all the other disciples who followed him? (Mathew 4:18-20) Well they became fishers of men. Can you imagine how many fishermen were on earth in the days of Christ? They must have been many even in Israel. Certainly all over the world there were many fishermen. But today we continue to read only of Simon Peter who became the rock upon which Christ built the Church (Mathew 16:18). How about Abraham? He also accepted the invitation from God to get out of his country and kindred, and father’s house and go to an unknown place which the Lord was to show him. (Gen 12) Well Abraham became a father of many nations, and today all of us partakers of the salvation of Christ are descendants of Abraham. How about Daniel who accepted God’s invitation to live righteously and never defile himself? (Daniel 1:8) Well God brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince (Daniel 1:9); God gave him wisdom and understanding than all the magicians and astrologers (Daniel 1:20); God revealed the deep and secret things to him (Daniel 2:22); and God preserved Daniel in the lion’s den, gave him victory over his enemies and prospered him (Daniel 6). There are of course many other examples we can cite in the Bible, but the story is the same-all those who accepted God’s invitation were honoured by God above their peers.

But is there a price to pay, when you accept God’s invitation? It is also a reasonable question to ask. Are there any sacrifices? Are there any costs? In Luke 14:28, Christ himself confirmed that we must count the cost before accepting his invitation. He said, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?” Clearly there are sacrifices-liberties forgone, sins repented off, restitutions made, persecutions endured, trials and tribulations sometimes, just like the disciples, just like Abraham and Daniel endured, but there is victory through it all. Abraham had to give up the known for the unknown. He was even willing to sacrifice his son in obedience to God. Daniel went into the lion’s den, ready to die in the faith; the disciples endured persecution and martyrdom; Joseph had to deal with envy from his brothers and blackmail from his master’s wife; Job lost almost everything before God restored him, but they all had great testimonies in the end.

Even in these times, God is still inviting us his children-to salvation for those who are yet to know him; to holy and righteous living; to manifestation of his power; to a higher level of service; to evangelism and love for our fellow men; and happily he still rewards us with blessings of favour, provision, security, restoration, promotion, victory and at the end of our journey on earth, eternal life. Will you accept his invitation?

Opeyemi Agbaje